Ecological Changes of Central Place Hierarchy in Oita Prefecture

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

This is a case study of Oita Prefecture, in order to identify the causes and how central place hierarchy has been changed ecologically since 1920.To measure the centrality-index of each central place, the writer has used the formula derived from B. Tietz's:Cci=m′Pc(a/b-1)÷mwhere Cci is the centrality-index of central place C in the time ti, mPc is the population of cetral place C in the time ti, a and b are the proportion of the trade and service workers to each population in the central place C and the region R respectively, and m is the changing ratio of the population in the region R during the period. He thinks that it is better than W. Christaller's formula, especially to measure changed quantatives of centralityindices during the period 1920-1965.In 1920, the central places of Oita Prefecture classified A to G order were distributed as shown in fig. 3. Since then most of lower order centres have declined consistently (fig. 2). This decline is attributed to the competition from higher order centres, as well as the spread of service establishments of lower order into trbiutary areas of lower order centres. Whereas Oita has grown rapidly, the higher order centres such as Nakatsu, Hita, Saeki etc, grew until the pre-war time or immediately after the war, but turned to decline shortly thereafter. Hence, the writer thinks that a hierarchical system of central places dominanted by Oita has gradually been established in Oita Prefecture.